The present invention relates to metal-coated foil and to curtains which incorporate such foil.
It has been known heretofore to employ metal-coated foil to reflect heat and light rays and thereby control the temperature in a building. Thus, in the summer months, the rays of heat and light may be reflected away from the building. Whereas, in the winter months, such rays may be permitted to enter the building.
The conventional manner of utilizing metal-coated foil in the past has been to adhesively secure the foil over all or selected window areas of the structure or to selected window shades. In the first instance, it was found that incident light whether it be natural or artificial was focused by the foil and reflected outwardly of the structure in a manner such that frequently pedestrians and the drivers of vehicles were temporarily blinded. The result, of course, was the undesirable and inadvertent creation of traffic hazards. In the latter instance, i.e. when the foils were secured to window shades so as to be movable therewith, waves of light were produced which caused a variety of reflected moving images to be created. The net result was an adverse effect upon the esthetic appearance of the building with little or no reduction in glare.
It is, therefore, one object of this invention to provide metal-coated plastic foil which is capable of reflecting diffusely incident light which impinges thereon, whereby the foil may or may not be translucent within the range of visible light.
It is another object of the invention to provide metal-coated plastic foil which reflects incident light in a directionally controlled manner.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a curtain structure which incorporates metal-coated plastic foil of the character described so as to enable improved control over the reflectance of heat and light rays and thereby over temperature conditions within a building.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent to persons skilled in the art from the ensuing description.